Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

If I may, I might reply to the comments of Deputy Carey and the Minister of State. I do not believe that has been fully been the case over the past 15 months. Shannon is quite unique when compared with Dublin and Cork airports because, as the Minister of State knows well, it encompasses several entities. There are heritage sites and Shannon Commercial Properties, etc. One of the big problems in the past 15 months has been with the heritage sites under the umbrella of Shannon Heritage. We were explicitly informed that there were potential liquidity issues arising in and around last summer. There was a campaign undertaken by me, Deputy Carey and all the people in the mid west to have the sites reopened. That was at a point when they may not have survived.

I suppose our concern is that in a normal trading year we worry about airports and what is landing. The heritage sites tend to operate by themselves. What became very apparent last year was that these sites are so intrinsically linked. There were cash flow problems for the heritage sites and if they are in a stage of jeopardy or flux, does it have a knock-on effect for the airport?

Last year, we could establish that Shannon Group is not able to move capital from one of its entities to the other, which also gives rise to challenges. Deputy Carey is right to ask the question and although we appreciate the answer, it does not reflect some of the challenges faced in the past year. Liquidity was one of those that specifically relates to the heritage sites. We have had separate debates about whether this should come under a different entity. The reality is that element is still part of Shannon Group and if one entity is failing, it damages the others. We must reflect on that as well.